Fresno Unified School District
CAC MEETING MINUTES AUGUST 25, 2026
Community Advisory Committee for Special Education Meeting
Tuesday, August 25, 2026 at 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Location: Farber Educational Center 720 S 10th St, Fresno, CA 93702
MINUTES
Welcome (Vice-Chair Steven Vasquez) – Meeting started at 5:49 pm
Chair Amy Aoki was not available to open the meeting due to a prior commitment but was there later in the evening, Vice-Chair Steven Vasquez filled in.
CAC stands for the Community Advisory Committee for Special Education, a volunteer group composed predominantly of parents of children with special needs who attend school within the Fresno Unified School District. CAC is a group of parents, school personnel, and other community members who work together to ensure that children with special needs receive the best education available. CAC meets once a month to provide parents with up-to-date information on issues that impact their children, the opportunity to communicate with district administrators, and the chance to connect with other parents. CAC’s responsibilities include advising the policy and administrative entity of the district, Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA), or county office, regarding the development, amendment, and review of the Local Plan. The Local Plan describes the local policies, procedures and programs that are consistent with state laws, regulations and policies for Special Education. Fresno Unified is required by law to have a CAC.
CAC Respect Agreement: to foster a respectful, inclusive and productive environment where all members feel valued and heard.
● Respectful communication
o Listen actively and without interruption.
o Speak honestly, but with kindness and consideration.
o Avoid sarcasm, personal attacks or dismissive language.
o Endeavor to use person-first language.
● Inclusivity and equity
o Ensure all voices are heard, especially quieter ones.
o Do not talk over one another.
o Please keep comments to a three-minute maximum. We will set a timer to ensure everyone gets a chance to speak.
o Be mindful of cultural, gender and personal differences.
o Avoid assumptions; ask when unsure.
● Collaboration
o Share ideas openly and welcome feedback.
o Support others in their roles and responsibilities.
o Resolve conflicts constructively and privately when possible.
● Confidentiality and trust
o When speaking of your concerns, please do not use your student’s name or the school location. Please respect the confidentiality needs of your student.
o Respect private conversations and sensitive information.
o Build trust through transparency and consistency.
Roll Call (Secretary Julie Wong)
14 members were present when roll was called; quorum was met. 5 members arrived later for a total of 19 members present.
Agenda Approval (Vice-Chair S. Vasquez)
Motion to accept: 1stJulie Wong, 2nd Steven Ramos – motion to approve passed unanimously.
Previous Meeting Minutes Approval (Vice-Chair S. Vasquez)
Motion to accept: 1st Jen Dote, 2nd Julie Wong – motion to approve passed unanimously.
New Membership (Secretary J. Wong) Elsa Carrillo was present online.
Motion to accept: 1st Ruth Reyes, 2nd Steven Ramos – motion to accept new member passed unanimously.
Old Business (Parliamentarian Cara Ford)
Correction made to CAC Parliamentarian introduction of Cara Ford (not Carra as stated by vice
-chair Vasquez)
Copies of proposed changes, redlined and tracked, of old bylaws (revision date 11/9/21) given to those in attendance. Brief explanation that many of the changes were made to align language across district and state accepted terminology. Voting to adopt changes will be done at the next meeting.
Overview of Special Education (SPED Administration Team)
Correction made to SELPA Executive Director introduction of Patrick Morrison (not Patrick Morris as stated by vice-chair Vasquez)
Special Education Regional Program Placement (as of 8/7/26) place-mats were distributed showing organization by high school regions. Side 1 shows high school regions and the natural feeder patterns of junior high and elementary schools. Also listed are the grade bands for program placement and 46 program changes. Programs are now more aligned for each region and will affect approximately 750 students. If a family doesn’t have an address change their student/s will stay at the same school site from grades 1-6.
Side 2 shows the Program Specialist Assignments for each region. The district no longer has Regional Instructional Managers (RIMs). We now have programmatic services across multiple sites using best practices, very intentional supports, and the Program Specialists/Managers will only be supporting specific programs across multiple sites, as opposed to serving multiple programs across
a single school site. This change will allow the program managers to focus on the specialized program instead of trying to serve all the programs that a site may have.
Let’s Talk/Onflo! (presented by Patrick Morrision - Executive Director - SELPA )
The district contact program Let’s Talk has been bought out by Onflo! and will remain on the bottom of every FUSD webpage as a way to contact the district using Let’s Talk/Onflo! This improved system keeps all the analytics of contact from parents. When a ticket is generated it sets a timer for response. A natural escalation progresses up the chain if it is not answered promptly. Parents can also give a 1-5 star rating on the interaction. A natural branching to departments is built in. If a ticket is delivered to the incorrect individual, that person has the ability to forward the ticket to the correct person or department and it will still be followed for response time until the ticket is cleared.
Patrick Morrison introduced his counterpart Executive Director of Services and Support, Gretchen Saldana. Gretchen welcomed back all students and families to the 2026-27 school year. She explained that the department’s role is to support families. She encouraged everyone to reach out via Onflo!, email, or phone to contact the special education department for any questions or concerns they may have. She introduced Maria Nunez, our new Community Education Specialist. Maria’s role will be to build and support relationships with our special education families. She adds a level of accountability with direct contact between families and special education management. Abraham Oliveras, Assistant Superintendent, added that Maria’s position was intentionally created to act as a liaison for families and goes straight to Sped administration's ears to let them know you need support.
Topics for Future Meetings - (Community Liaison Patricia Camarillo)
Correction made to Community Liaison introduction of Patricia Camarillo (not Patrice Camero as stated by vice-chair Vasquez)
Patricia announced her new position with Teacher Development as a Teacher on Special Assignment for New Teacher Support and Sped Induction. Although this moves her out of the special education department she plans to remain connected via her community networks.
This is a foundational shift for us this meeting, from the new meeting space at Farber, with room to grow, to setting topics that members and attendees would like to hear about. Examples of possible future topics include:
● Behavior Intervention Plans (BIP) What are they? How do you ask for one?
● What are present levels and how are they determined?
● What types of goals does your student have?
● Do you know what curriculum is being used in your student’s classroom? Is it general education or modified?
● Alternate diploma
● Workability / STEP program
● School safety
● ATLAS
● Attendance
● Zūm/Transportation
● Designated Instructional Services: high and low incidence
○ SLP - speech language services, OT - occupational therapy, PT - physical therapy,
○ VI - visual impairment, APE - adapted physical education, OI - orthopedic impairment, AAC - augmentative/alternative communication, DHH - deaf and hard of hearing services
These are not the only topics available, by any means, if there is something you want to know more about that isn’t included in the list we want you to let us know what it is. You can use the QR code, email us at fusd.cac@gmail.com, the comment cards on each table, or use Let’s Talk/Onflo! to reach out to us.
Educational Partners Forum - Parent/Participant Q&A
This is the time to share any successes, good things, or not so good things that have happened with your students. Please be aware that we limit comments or questions to three minutes to ensure that everyone has a chance to speak if they want. We use a timer so please do not take it personally if you hear the timer beep. We do not respond to all concerns during the Educational Partners Forum. For those we don’t address, we will try to find the right person for you to talk to after the meeting. We can also help you submit any questions that cannot be answered here to “Let’s Talk/Onflo!” on the district website.
Jen D. – Could you update us at the next meeting on how many students are currently routed for bussing?
Patrick Morrison – Actually I can do that right now. Out of the approximately 1600 students we serve, there are only 9 that won’t be routed by this coming Monday. As you know we changed bus systems from First Student to Zūm this year. We are in contact with and talk to them everyday. We currently have 91% positive ratings on Zūm and we will keep working on it to perfection. We may have had some first week glitches but it will keep improving. We can give a school site an update on where a student is in about 60 seconds and the reason why the student isn’t there. That’s due to their real time tracking.
Ruth R. – How do I get support for the Class Dojo app ?
Abraham Oliveras – Class Dojo is not a district supported platform so we do not have tech support for it, you would have to reach out to the app directly. We are using Parent Square for communication to parents.
Raquel P. – Can ATLAS show teachers that a student is on a 504 or IEP and give them access to the document so that we don’t have to tell every teacher ourselves?
Patrick Morrison. – That is a great callout. We are working on better integration with ATLAS. We used to have some security concerns, however, ATLAS has two updates yearly - one in August and one in January. We will ask ATLAS to add an IEP at a glance so that every teacher can see it – which
is important especially if a teacher is not your case manager. Currently we rely on case managers to inform the teachers.
Michelle S. – I am very excited about the school year and have heard a lot of excitement from the community about some of the recent changes that were made. She mentioned a possible topic for a future meeting: Emotional Tools for Parents when things are tough. The presenter of that topic covered things like, “When is it neurological?”
Patricia Carillo – We will try to get that scheduled as a topic!
Ruth R. – There is a problem with the parking situation, especially in the handicapped spaces. We have cars that are parking in the no parking cross-hatched area that is for wheelchairs. That blocks me from being able to load my student into the car. What can be done about this? I have noticed district cars and trucks parked there too.
Abraham Oliveras – There should not be unauthorized vehicles parked in those spots.
Julie Wong – If you have an SRO at your site you can let them know and they can ticket that vehicle, since they are Fresno PD., That ticket is a minimum of a $265 fine. If you don’t have an on-campus SRO you can also call the front office, notify them and ask them for assistance.
Jen D. – Her student has switched regions this year and she has noticed that there are more students per class with fewer adults. Her child’s IEP states there should be a one-to-one aide but to date has only been supported once by a substitute paraeducator that they pulled from another class. She has not seen any active postings for paraeducators at the site and is concerned about getting a para per the IEP. Also, there is no harness for the bus nor a bus rider to go with her student. Seeing that we are in the second week of the school year, why hasn’t this been addressed yet?
Abraham Oliveras – There are a lot of paraprofessional positions that are currently posted, but have not been filled yet. Not passing the buck but we (Sped department) are not HR - staffing talent acquisition or a staffing agency. I encourage anyone interested to apply to fill those positions or let others know we have open positions. The district is currently leveling right now and making adjustments to classes and teachers. We have a staffing shortage with 35 teacher vacancies that we were not expecting due to the large number of employees that took the buyout last year and retired early. Schools have substitute event #s and we hope that someone picks up those positions. Current staff cannot be forced to fill those jobs due to contracts the district has with teachers and classified employees.
Raquel P. – I have a question/concern. I work at a school site and I no longer see volunteer or visitor options on the sign-in tablet. I see other agencies coming in to support students and they must log-in as staff. Are they staff now? I have put in an application to volunteer in order to support my grandchild and help out in the classroom but I keep getting told that my application is on hold. (Grandchild attends a Child Development Center)
Cara Ford – Are you talking about service providers like SLPs or AT (Speech Language Pathologists or Assistive Technology)? Because those types of providers do sign in as staff when they visit different sites. They are FUSD employees but are not assigned to just one site. CDCs are different from regular sites but you can ask the site why the visitor or volunteer option isn’t available.
Getchen Saldana – Some of our sites are now using the Verkada system for checking in instead of RAPTOR and I have noticed that some of the sign-in options have changed.
Abraham Oliveras – I will tell Maria and we can check with the Safety Department.
Parent answer – I was told that clearances would be done in September but my child’s site lets me volunteer in the classroom.
Question – Is there any way cameras can be added in Sped classrooms?
Abraham Oliveras – There would have to be an agreement with the FTA (Fresno Teachers Association) and it’s highly unlikely that they would allow that.
Eustavo M. – The number of students in my student’s class increased but they still only have one teacher and two paras.
Abraham Oliveras – Please stay so that we can talk.
Steven V. – Are field trips for students in Sped being affected? Abraham Oliveras - No, not specifically. They will remain status quo.
Gloria H. – How can we have home support with navigating IEPs and with one-to-one support? We need cameras in classrooms, my student was accused of hurting another child and I asked to see the camera playback. Another child cursed at my child and pushed her. My child followed her and asked her why she was saying bad words to me? The other child hit her child. Also, thank you for all that you do to help our students.
Michelle S. – I would like to start out by saying that this is the first time in 37 years that I don’t have a child starting the school year with Fresno Unified, although I do have six littles that are in school with one on a 504 and two with IEPs. I am also part of a grant for underserved students, and on September 18th I would like to invite everyone to attend the Golden State SDP (Self Determination Program) Celebration Spotlighting SDP Self-Advocates. The event will be held from 8:00am-3:00pm at the Regency Event Center in Clovis, the conference is free to attend although we do ask you to RSVP. There is a vendor donating the food, Starbucks, and FUSD is providing the translation services. Dani Bowman from Love on the Spectrum will be a guest speaker. One of the great things about the SDP is that the person gets to choose what they would like to do. I had a client that went skydiving! His poor father just about had a heart attack whenever the subject was brought up, but he got to go skydiving - it was indoors but that was his dream and he got to do it!
Gretchen Saldana – I recently had a meeting with the Executive Director of Safety and we know that Tenaya MS has an IT issue for visitors signing in. I was a VP and counselor at Roosevelt HS and also
a parent. This year we have 29 new principals and 30 new vice-principals which is very exciting and as you know there is a learning curve involved. There are close to 2,300 students at Roosevelt HS and honestly it’s impossible to know every student walking through the gates. We want to lead from a place of partnership. We have site admins, Program Specialists, Manager III’s, and now Maria to continue to bring your concerns to. We are making intentional efforts and want you to know that your concerns are not falling on deaf ears, even if change isn’t immediate.
Michelle S. – This is the first year I’ve been in meetings where everyone is excited! I would like to make a suggestion to include parents at the beginning instead of the end of a change process.
Abraham Oliveras – We talked to every single family of the 756 students impacted by the changes made - live, individual phone calls were made to those parents. Every site had listening sessions with staff.
Ruth R. – What phone call? I didn’t get one.
Abraham Oliveras – Did you have a placement change? We only called the families and spoke to those that had placement changes.
Parent Comments –
● Regarding First Student (buses), I heard from a board member that a student had no bus service because the address was wrong.
● Another parent had to take their student to school and now he doesn’t want to ride the bus, he only wants the parent to take him, which she cannot do everyday.
● Be mindful that it is difficult for students to adapt to change.
● I had a friend who needed help on Friday and Monday because she had no bus service, so I took her child to school and walked him into the office. No one in the office acknowledged the student, and there were 3 people who ignored me. An hour later mom, my friend, got a call and was told her child was running around the school site. I don’t know what to do because I cannot take her son to school everyday. I invited her to the CAC meetings.
Julie Wong – Before we end I would like to share a positive thing that happened, I have some good news. This was the first time in 15 years that I signed an IEP at the meeting agreeing with all parts. It’s taken a long time to get here but it can happen. It took a lot of people, A LOT, to get here, but it can happen - hang in there everyone!
Announcements
Next Upcoming CAC Meeting: Tuesday, September 22, 2026 from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at the Farber Educational Center
Closing & Adjournment – 7:30 p.m.